Voting-machine.



No. 879,114. PATENTED FEB.11, 1908.

J. H. McELROY.

VOTING MAUHINB.

APPLICATION FILED. MAY18. 1904. RENEWED JULY 8, 1907.

a SHEETS-SHEBT1.

R O 9 1 L 1 B E F D E T N E T A P H Ym E 0 A E 0M MG m .T O V APPLICATION FILED HAY 18, 1904. RENEWED JULY 8, 1907.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

No- 879,114. PATENTED FEB. 11, 1908."- J. HFMQELROY. VOTING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED MAYIB, 1904. RENEWED JULY 8, 1907.

a SHEETS-SEEET a.

w fift s III/III JOHN HOWARD MoELROY,

OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

VOTING-MACHINE Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 11, 1908.

Original application filed September 2. 1899. Serial No. "729.274. Divided and this application filed May 18. 1904, gerial No. 208.513. Renewed July 8. 1907. Serial No. 382.720.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, J OHN HOWARD MoEL- ROY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have made certain new and useful Improvements in Voting-Machines, of which the following is a specification. a

My present application, which is a division of my application No. 729,274, filed Sep tember 2, 1899, is concerned with the novel booth mechanism and'the locking and controlling mechanism for the machine proper operated thereby, as will be fully set out in the specification, and particularly pointed out in the claims.

To illustrate my invention, I annex hereto three sheets of drawings, in which the same reference characters are used to designate identical parts in all the figures, of which,

Figure 1 is a top plan view of the complete machine, showing principally the arrangement of the booth and the details of the mechanism for compelling a complete stroke or operation of the machine; Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the machine, in section on the line 2 2 of Fig. l Fig. 3 is a front elevation, on a larger scale, of the machine proper, on the line 3-3 of Fig. 7 Fig. 4 is a central sectional view through some of the operating keys, on a larger scale, on the line 44 of Fig. 5, showing details of construction; Fig. 5 is a view of the same mechanism, in section on the line 55 of Fig. 4; Fig. 6 is a top lan view of the interlocking and key-contro ling mechanism; Fig. 7 is an end view of the same mechanism Fig. 8 is an extended view of the cam groove which serves to lower and raise the operating frame; Fig. 9 is a similar view I of the cam groove which serves to operate the re-setting mechanism; and Figs. 10 and 11 are perspective views of one of the candidate or scratching keys and one of the straightticket keys, respectively.

Referring-especially to Figs. 1 and 2, the general casing of the machine, which I designate by the letter A placed upon the front or face plate, is of a rectangular shape, and is supported by the legs B, of which the pair in front extends forward farther than the rear pair, in order to bring the center of gravity of the entire structure over the center of sup port. Fastened to the top part of the casing A, near its center, is a bracket or support C, which I conveniently secure upon the frame by the bolts. D passing therethrough and held in placeby the customary nuts. This bracket C is provided with a vertical cylindrical hearing aperture E, in which is placed the cylindrical stud or pintle F, which is rigidly secured to or formed integral with the center of the spider G, which supports what I may call the rotating framework of the booth. T 0 form a simple and efficient bearing, I insert the steel ball H between the bottom of the stud F and the bottom of the bearing E. The spider G, which is conveniently made of castiron, has the arms or legs J, which are slotted on their upper surfaces to receive the bars K, which are secured therein in any convenient manner, as by bolts. These arms K have their outer ends secured in similar channels formed in the angle pieces L, which have the flanges M by which they are bolted or otherwise secured to the circular sheet-iron frame N, which, as shown in Fig. 2, preferably extends down below the body of the machine so as to conceal the voter and the key-board from the public when the booth is occupied. It will be understood that, instead of employing the solid metallic shield N, I might make merely the upper portion in the form of a strip or ring, and suspend therefrom a curtain, which would give practically the same effect with less weight.

Bolted or otherwise secured on the under side of the arms K, is the curved plate or bar 0, which is conveniently constructed of cast metal, and which occupies substantially a semicircle. On its upper inner edge is formed the set of teeth or serrations P, which are designed to. cooperate with the dog Q, which is pivotally mounted on the top of the casing A, and has the elongated leaf-spring R secured to its rear end and passing through the staple S, which serves to hold the dog Q, by reason of its action upon the spring R, in the position shown in Fig. 1. WVhen the cover is swung in the direction indicated by the arrow in Fig. 1, it will be seen that the first tooth P will swing the dog Q into a slanting position, in which it will be held by the teeth until the cover has been rotated until all the teeth are past the dog, after which the dog can return to its normal position. It will be readily apparent that the action of the square end of the dog against the teeth will prevent the direction of movement being changed after the cover is once started. The lug T, formed on or secured to the shield N, serves to limit the movement of the cover, its opposite sides contacting with the opposite ends of the casing A at the limit of its movement in either direction. hen the cover is swung around to its limit of movement, the keyboard is eX posed to the public, so that they can familiarize themselves with it before voting, but the keys are all looked from any possible movement by mechanism to be subsequently described. When the voter enters the booth, he swings the cover from its open position back to the closed position of Fig. 1, he, of course, remaining inside of the cover, and the reverse action of the dog Q and the teeth T compels the complete closure of the cover after it has once been started before it can be opened again. In addition to carrying the teeth T, the plate or bar O carries two cam grooves for controlling the resetting and operating mechanisms respectively, but these cam grooves will be described more at length in another part of the specification.

Any desired form of interlocking mechanism may be employed, but I have, for convenience, partially illustrated the fluid interlocking mechanism employed in my aforesaid original application, to which reference is made for a full disclosure of said mechanism. Any desired system of operation may be employed, such as the keys directly actuating the registers, as in my application No. 8,568, filed March 12, 1900, or the key set and deferred operation shown in my application No. 655,060, filed October 13, 1897; the specific form illustrated being that of my aforesaid application No. 7 29,274, to which reference is again made for details not concerned with the present application.

In the specific form of interlocking mechanism shown, a body of incompressible fluid confined in a suitable reservoir is operated on by each key as it is moved to operative position, the keys when in operative position serving to reduce the capacity of the reservoir, so that when keys for all the offices for which the voter is entitled to vote have been moved to operative position, no more of them can be moved, thus limiting the number of registers that can be actuated and the possibility of fraud in the customary manner. By dividing this reservoir into a system of channels devoted to the candidates for the different offices, and by connecting the office channels with transverse channels provided with stop cocks between the oflice channels, I am enabled to group as many registers together as may be necessary for forming multi-oflice groups of candidates.

Each of the keys H, which are shown as of a generally square shape in cross section, have their inner ends arranged in any suitable manner so as to pass into the reservoir and diminish the space therein. The ends of the keys II project out through the front plate P, which, as shown in Fig. 2, is conveniently made of sections, so that it can be removed from the front of the machine to get at the registers; or it may be provided with a series of slots P in front of each register, as indicated by the dotted lines in Fig. 2, so that the reading of the registers can be effected without removal of the front plates. The ballot sheet containing the names will be secured upon the front plate P, which is then covered by the glass plate Q, which is shaped to correspond to the plate P, having apertures to permit the passage of the ends of the keys, and which is secured in place by the strips R, which are bolted or screwed in place. Resting on the upper side of each .row of keys, and also supported in grooves in the columns U, are the re-setting and controlling bars T, which are preferably rectangular in cross section, and which have the downwardly-projecting lugs U thereon, which are furnished with the triangular deflectors V, which serve to deflect the straight-ticket hangers IV by reason of being contacted by their lugs X when another key in the same row has been operated. It may be here stated that at each operation of the machine, the rectangular gridironshaped frame F is raised and lowered, and each of its vertical bars G carries a series of hangers E one for each candidate register, and which have projecting rearwardly therefrom the lugs D which are intended to engage with the registering lug W on the register-actuating rock-shaft U if the register is to be actuated as a scratched vote. On the other side of each vertical column of keys H is a suitably-supported verticallymovable straightticket bar Q which is normally held upward yieldingly by the spring-pressed bar T suitably supported, as shown in Fig. 3. The rear of each of the straight-ticket bars Q is provided with the straight-ticket hangers W, which carry the rearwardly-projecting straight-ticket lugs X, which are adapted to cooperate with and actuate the registers through their rockshaft U and the outermost lug N A latching member X normally held out of engagement with the lugs Z on the main frame F, is arranged so as to be held inward in operative position, as indicated by full lines at the righthand end of Fig. 3, when a straight ticket is to be cast, by the operation of one of the straight-ticket keys H, which constitute the uppermost row.

Projecting from the under side of the bar T, are the pintles Y, upon which are journaled the anti-friction rollers Z, which are contacted by the lugs A upon the right-hand side of the keys H, which lugs A have a double function. They have the inclined rear side B in a vertical plane, which cooperates with the anti-friction rollers Z to cam it and the bar T to the right whenever any key is operated, thus bringing all the deflectorsV into position to deflect any straightticket hanger IV that may be depressed in that office row. When the bar T is re-set, the antifriction roller Z, cooperating with the surface B of the lug A, serves to force the key II out and to re-set it. The lug A has its upper surface C inclined downward, as is shown in Figs. 3, 4, 5 and 10, to form a deflecting surface for the lug D on the scratched-ticket hanger E whenever the key is unoperated; but, as will be seen from Fig. 4, if the key has been operated, the lug A is moved out of the path of the lug B so that when the hanger E descends, the lug B will not be deflected thereby. The top cross bar K of the frame F has an upwardly-extending arm M located in the vertical line passing through the center of gravity of the frame and extending upward to the end of the lever N best shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2, which is pivotally mounted just back of the front plate and has its inner end pivotally connected to the arm M while its other end is provided with an antifriction roller O which takes into the cam slot P formed in the bar or plate 0 previously described. An extended view of the cam slot P is shown in Fig. 8, and it will be seen that as soon as the cover is started to be swung from its closed to its open position, and the dog Q is caught by the teeth P so as to prevent any backward movement, the cam slot will cause the frame F to be lowered to operate the machine, and to be almost immediately raised, after which the re-setting mechanism comes into play, as will be subsequently described.

The re-setting mechanism is best illustrated in Figs. 3, 6 and 7, and it consists of mechanism for moving the operating bars P to the left, back to their normal position. To the left hand of the left-hand connectingpiece J each bar T is provided with an antifriction roller D which projects into the plane of the substantially vertical arm E of a bell crank lever F, the other arm of which, G is pivotally connected to the vertically reciprocating bar H which has at its upper end the anti-friction roller J (see Fig. 2)

which takes into the cam groove K of the curved plate 0. This cam groove K as will be seen from the extending view thereof in Fig. 9, is on two levels, it holding the antifriction roller J and the bar H on the upper level when the booth is entirely closed, so that the parts are in the position of Fig. 3, where it will be seen that the bars T can be moved to the right as the keys are operated. The cam groove descends from the upper level to the lower level just after the operating frame-has been lowered and raised by the cam groove P and as the inclined portion connecting the two different levels passes the roller J the bar H will be forced down to its lower position, and as it moves down,

the arms E contacting with the anti-friction rollers D will serve to re-set all of the keys that have been operated. As will be readily seen, when the booth is open, the bar H is held in its lowermost position, and during this time the keys are absolutely locked from movement in their unoperated position, as it is impossible to force the bars T to the right, which is necessary before the keys can be pushed in. By this construction, I absolutely insure the machine against being tampered with while it is open for public inspection, and the voter must close the shield or screen about him so as to prevent the public from seeing how he votes, before he can manipulate the keys.

In order to absolutely position the keys during the descent of the operating frame, I provide the following mechanism. In the side of the keys next to the bar G I form two notches L and M with which cooperate the slightly elongated lugs N suitably located on the inner side of the bars G above each key. These lugs N have their lower ends beveled off on each side to form a point, so that they readily enter either the notch L or M depending upon whether the key is unoperated or operated; and to absolutely insure the key being set to its exact position when it is a very small distance on either side of the half-way position, I bevel off both sides of the upper end of the lug 0 which is left between the grooves L and M in the ordinary candidate keys. By this construction, it will be readily seen that as soon as the bar starts down, and before the register is operated, the key is cammed positively either into its exact operated or unoperated position, depending upon which position it most nearly approached. Similarly, to lock the bars T in their operated or unoperated position, during the descent of the bar, I form the lugs P on the rear side of the left-hand bar H and arrange the correspondingly shaped, but inverted, lug Q on the outer face of the bar T, so that as the lug P contacts with one or the other sides of the lug Q the bar T will be forced accurately into its operated or unoperated position before the action of the registering mechanism can take place.

While I have herein shown and described some features not claimed in the present application, it will be understood that I do not thereby disclaim them, but specifically reserve the subject matter thereof for the original application, No. 729,274, or any further divisions thereof.

IVhile I have herein shown and described the subject matter of the present application as embodied in the form which at the time of its invention I considered best ad apted to carry out its purposes, it will be understood that it is capable of modification, and that I do not desire to be limited in the interpretation of the following claims, except as may be necessitated by the state of the prior art.

IVhat I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is, 1. In a voting machine, a face plate, a movable curtain support, and a .curtain movable with the support, the closed curtain and face plate together constituting the and a curtain movable horizontally in the arc of a circle, the axis of the support being booth to inclose the voter.

2. In a voting machine, a face plate, a curtain support having a curtain thereon and adapted to be moved in the arc of a circle to cover or uncover the face plate, the closed curtain and the face plate together constituting the booth to inclose the voter.

3. In a voting machine, a face plate, and a movable curtain support and a curtain adapted to be opened and closed by a voter, the closed curtain and the face plate together constituting the booth to inclose the voter, which curtain support when restored to normal position causes a movement of selected indicators and their registers.

4. In a voting machine, a curtain, part of which is normally in the rear of the machine, a curtain support and means for moving the support and curtain simultaneously to cover I the face of the machine.

5. In a voting machine, a face plate and a curtain support carrying a-curtain in a fixed position on the support at all times and adapted to be moved to constitute a booth bounded by the curtain and the face plate and inclosing the voter on all sides.

6. In a voting machine, a curtain support attached to the machine at its top.

7. In a voting machine, a curtain support movable in a plane above and over the top of the machine.

8. In a voting machine, re-setting mechanism and a movable curtain support connected to the re-setting mechanism on the top of machine, said support being movable in a plane above and over the voting mechanism.

9. In a voting machine, indicators, a cur- I tain support attached to the top of the machine and movable in a plane above and over the voting mechanism and intermediate devices, whereby the support when in normal position locks all the indicators against movement, and when in the reverse position permits the movement of indicators.

10. In a voting machine, a curtain, a support therefor, said support having radiating arms extending from an axis situated immediately over the voting mechanism.

11. In a voting machine, the combination of the vertical frame A containing the registering mechanism, with the segmental cylindrical cover pivotally mounted in relation thereto and movable Without collapsing, and

arranged to inclose one side of said frame when it is in one position, and to leave it exposed when it is in the other position.

12. In a voting machine, the combination of the vertical frame A containing the registering mechanism, and having the bracket C thereon, with the segmental cylindrical cover carrying a pintle mounted to rotate in said bracket, and having the open work at the top and the side portions thereof closed.

13. In a voting machine, the combination of the stationary frame A, with the segmental cylindrical cover rotatably mounted in connection therewith, the stop T carried by said cover and adapted to contact with the stationary frame at the limit of its movement in either direction.

14. In a voting machine, the combination of the frame A, with the rotating cover pivotally mounted in relation thereto and movable without collapsing, and adapted to cover the front of the frame when it is in one position and to leave it exposed in the other position, and a circular segmental plate carried by said frame and provided with complete stroke mechanism to compel a full movement thereof in either direction.

15. In a voting machine, the combination of the frame A, with the rotatable cover mounted thereon and movable Without collapsing, re-setting mechanism in said frame, and the segmental plate 0 mounted on the cover and having connections with the resetting mechanism, to operate it as the cover is moved.

16. In a voting machine, the combination of the frame A for the registers carrying operating mechanism, with the cover rotatably mounted upon said frame, the circular segmental plate 0 carried by said cover, complete stroke mechanism between said frame and said plate, and connections between said plate and the operating mechanism whereby the reciprocation of the cover will cause the operation of the registering mechamsm. 1

17. In a voting machine, the combination of the frame containing the registering mechanism, together with operating mechanism, and a vertically movable re-setting bar, with the cover rotatably mounted on said frame, and carrying the segmental plate 0, and connections between said plate 0 and the operating and re-setting mechanism whereby the reciprocation of the cover will first operate the registers and subsequently re-set the machine.

18. In a voting machine, the combination with the casing having a face plate, of.the curtain-carrying support movably mounted thereon, the curtain carried by the support and movable therewith as the support is operated at each operation of the machine and when in its closed position with the face plate forming a booth, and resetting mechplate forming abooth, complete stroke mechanism operated by the movement ofsaid anism interposed between said casing and support. the curtain-carrying support to compel a 19. In avoting machine, the combination complete movement of the lever in either a With the casing having a face plate, of the direction, and resetting mechanism operated 15 curtain-carrying support movably mounted by said movement.

thereon, the curtain carried by the support JOHN HOWVARD MGELROY. and movable therewith as the support is WVitnesses: operated at each operation of the machine LOUIS B. ERWIN,

10 andwhen in its closed position With the face S. E. HIBBEN. 

